Hinge aligning gauge



United States Patent O HINGE ALIGNXNG GAUGE Thomas J. Dossie, New York, and Max J. Parnes, Brooklyn, N. Y.

Application April 3, 1953, Serial No. 346,7@

1 Claim. (Cl. 153-497) This invention deals with gauge devices for use in lining up hinges for mounting on a door, so as to insure proper hanging of a. door in a doorframe and, particularly, where the door frames are composed of metal and accuracy in alinement of the door in the frame is irnportant.

The novel features of the invention will be best understood from the following description, when taken together with the accompanying drawing, in which certain embodiments of the invention are disclosed and, in which7 the separate parts are designated by suitable reference characters in each of the views and, in which:

Fig. l is a detail corner view of a doorframe and door showing the arrangement of one of our gauges thereon, preparatory to marking the door for hinge alinement.

Fig. 2 is a section on the line 2-2 of Fig. l; and

Fig. 3 is a central longitudinal sectional View through a modified form of gauge which we employ.

T o illustrate a use of our improved gauge device, we have shown, in Figs. l and 2 of the drawing, a steel doorframe 10, in which a door 11 is to be hung. The doorframe has hinge receiving recesses, or gains 12, formed therein, one of such recesses only being shown, these recesses being formed in the fabrication of the sheet metal frame.

At 13 is shown a gauge device which comprises a short leg 14 and a long leg 15 disposed at right angles to the leg 14. Upper and lower surfaces 16 and 17 of the leg are parallel and in alinernent with corresponding surfaces of the short leg 14 and, in the use of the gauge, one of these surfaces, that is to say, the upper or the lower surface is brought against one edge of the recess, as at 18 in Fig. 1 of the drawing, with the leg 14 disposed in parallel relation to the edge 18, then a line or mark is made on the door 11 along the edge 16. lt will be apparent that a similar mark will be provided for the lower recess or gain which is not shown and with an intermediate recess, where threehinges are used to hang a door in a frame. In some instances, the lower surface 17 can be arranged at the upper side, particularly in hinging a door at the right-hand side, as viewed in Fig. 1, rather than at the left-hand side, as shown.

To frictionally retain the gauge in position, we provide, on the inner surface of the leg 14, a flat spring 19, "so that the leg 14 can be supported between the edge of the door and the bottom of the recess 12, as diagramrnatically illustrated in Fig. 2 of the drawing. The long leg 15 also preferably includes an outwardly projecting fngerpiece 20, by means of which the gauge can be conveniently handled and this ngerpiece will facilitate withdrawal of the gauge after the marking has been made.

In Fig. 3 of the drawing, we have shown a modified form of gauge 21, in which the short leg is shown at 22 and the long leg shown at 23. Here the gauge is made from a single strip of material. The short leg 22 is cutout, as seen at 24, and the cutout portion is fashioned to form a spring 2S, similar to the spring 19, and the long leg 23 is shaped to form an integral fingerpiece 26.

A tool of the kind under consideration is practical for use in hanging doors of any type or kind for proper alineinent of the doors in a easement or frame made of wood or any other material. The device can be inexpensively produced so that one of the gauges could be sold with a pair of hinges, making it convenient for use by the carpenter or other individual and, after use, can be discarded. On the other hand, the gauge can be made more substantial from the standpoint of occupying an important part of a tool kit or chest for the marking of members one with respect to the other.

With a gauge of the character described, the short and long walls, in addition to being disposed at right angles to each other, include upper and lower edges, which are in the same alinement and are parallel so that the gauge can be utilized in the hanging of doors from the left or right sides of a doorframe. It will also be apparent that both the yieldable means or spring and. the fingerpiece portion are arranged in spaced relation to the upper and lower edges of the angular walls, so as to not interfere with the use of the gauge from the standpoint of seating in the recess or gain of a doorframe and marking the door along one or" the edges of the long arm.

With the showing in Fig. 3 of the drawing, the fingerpiece 26 will be shaped from the material of the Wall within the upper and lower edge portions of the wall to be in a position or relationship similar to that of the iingerpiece 20, shown in Fig. l of the drawing.

Having fully described our invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

A gauge for alining hinges on a door to be hung in a sheet metal doorframe having pre-formed hinge gains, said gauge comprising a narrow body defined by elongated walls arranged at right angles to each other and having parallel and alined upper and lower surfaces, one wall being adapted to be positioned in the gain of the doorframe with an edge of said wall engaging an edge of said gain, said wall having a spring extending at the inner surface thereof and adapted to bear on the edge of the door facing said gain, the other Wall being longer than the first wall and adapted to bear on the surface of the door, and said longer wall having an outwardly projecting fngerpiece portion.

References Cited in the lile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

